In California, scientists at the University of California San Diego and Sapphire Energy have successfully completed the first outdoor field trial sanctioned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for genetically engineered algae. In a series of experiments funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the researchers tested a genetically engineered strain of algae in outdoor […]
In Hong Kong, researchers from Hong Kong University and Kyoto University have determined that by inhibiting tricin production in the rice plant, energy production can increase by 37%. Researchers think the genetic engineering will eventually take over for the costly chemical process of producing glucose for ethanol production from cellulosic material such as rice straw. […]
In Nigeria, researchers developed a process to pre-treat chicken droppings, and then have anaerobic microbes digest the waste and Mexican sunflowers together. Eight kilograms of poultry waste and sunflowers produced more than 3 kg of biogas — more than enough fuel to drive the reaction and have some leftover for other uses such as powering […]
In Belgium, bacteria need mutations — changes in their DNA code — to survive under difficult circumstances. When necessary, they can even mutate at different speeds. This is shown in a recent study by the Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics at KU Leuven (University of Leuven), Belgium. The findings open up various new avenues […]
In Japan, efforts have been made by researchers to reduce the cost of biodiesel production by using pulsed electric fields (PEF) to extract hydrocarbons from microalgae. A milli- or microsecond PEF is typically used to weaken cell walls and increase permeability allowing for extraction of elements inside the cell. Kumamoto University researchers, on the other […]
Team Biogas released the second generation for the Anaerobic Digestion Lab Test Network (ADLTN) website, specializing in BMP (Biomethane Potential) laboratory assays and gas fractioning. Team Biogas has brought together a selected group of private, commercial and accredited Universities with an emphasis on Applied Research strategically located in the United States and Canada. These specially […]
In Iowa, the phrase “a double-edged sword” describes something that is beneficial in some ways but problematic in others. One example is removing maize stover (the husks, stems and leaves of corn plants) from fields. Maize stover is used to make cellulosic ethanol, a renewable biofuel. And renewable biofuels are beneficial to the environment. However, […]
In Texas, the genome of the fuel-producing green microalga Botryococcus braunii has been sequenced by a team of researchers led by a group at Texas A&M AgriLife Research. The report, in Genome Announcements, comes after almost seven years of research, according to Dr. Tim Devarenne, AgriLife Research biochemist and principal investigator in College Station. In […]
In Washington state, a recent study by researchers from the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory and Washington University investigated effects of altering large cellular complexes called phycobilisomes, which cyanobacteria use to efficiently capture light energy for photosynthesis, to guide development of optimal strategies for biofuel production. The findings revealed changes to phycobilisome structure indirectly affect critical, […]
In Nevada, the unassuming ice plant could become an ingenious weapon in the fight against a warming climate that threatens to limit regions suitable for growing biofuel crops. Biochemist and molecular biologist John Cushman at the University of Nevada, Reno will create a gene atlas for the common ice plant that will help find ways […]
